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Comparison of positive and negative cloud-to-ground lightning dominant storms in three regions of the United States

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dc.contributor.authorAnderson, Amanda R. S., author
dc.contributor.authorRutledge, Steven, advisor
dc.contributor.authorLang, Timothy, committee member
dc.contributor.authorvan den Heever, Sue, committee member
dc.contributor.authorRobinson, R. Steven, committee member
dc.date.accessioned2007-01-03T05:34:10Z
dc.date.available2007-01-03T05:34:10Z
dc.date.issued2011
dc.description.abstractA statistical framework for analyzing storm data, called CLEAR (Colorado State University Lightning, Environment, Aerosols, and Radar), was used to examine the characteristics of seven storms in three different regions of the contiguous United States. Regions included the High Plains (eastern Colorado/western Kansas), central Oklahoma, and northern Alabama. Dual-polarization radar, lightning mapping array observations, and environmental reanalysis data were ingested by CLEAR to objectively assign lightning and environmental information to tracked storms. Comparison of environmental characteristics of the positive cloud-to-ground lightning (+CG) and negative cloud-to-ground lightning (-CG) dominant storms in the three regions showed no clear environmental difference between storms of different CG polarity dominance or between the regions themselves. Analysis of the lightning data showed the layer of maximum Very High Frequency (VHF) source density, inferred to be the positive charge layer, of the +CG dominant storms was at a much lower height (warmer temperature) than that of the -CG dominant storms. This indicated the probable existence of an inverted charge structure in the +CG dominant storms and supports previous research that suggested inverted charge as a cause of +CG dominance. Additionally, dual-Doppler analysis of the storms found that the +CG dominant storms had a much larger volume of >10 m s-1 updraft than the -CG dominant storms, which may contribute to the production of the inverted charge structure. The +CG dominant storms also had larger graupel echo volumes, consistent with the larger updraft volumes.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediummasters theses
dc.identifierAnderson_colostate_0053N_10537.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10217/48105
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2000-2019
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectlightning
dc.subjectregional comparison
dc.subjectpositive dominance
dc.titleComparison of positive and negative cloud-to-ground lightning dominant storms in three regions of the United States
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineAtmospheric Science
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (M.S.)

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